He was born in Sheffield and founded the band as Arabicus Pulp whilst he was still at school. He shot to fame in the 1990s with the great commercial success of the albums His and Hers and Different Class (1995). He famously invaded the stage at the 1996 Brit Awards to protest Michael Jackson's performance.
After two more albums (This Is Hardcore and We Love Life), neither of which achieved the commercial or critical success of earlier works, Pulp released a greatest hits album and went on hiatus. Jarvis moved to Paris with his girlfriend, Camille Bidault-Waddington, with who he has a son, Albert.
However, he may not been able to stay out of the public eye or the music business for long, and in 2003 emerged to promote a new album, under the pseudonym Darren Spooner, for his new band called Relaxed Muscle.